Fix You
by TheYellingPlace
Summary: Santana's left for Louisville. Brittany is still in Lima trying to cope with repeating her senior year, with a little help from her friends. Mostly Brittana with a fair amount of Klaine; potential for hints of Wemma. semi-AU through season 3; completely AU from Goodbye. T for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! Couple notes:

This is the most unoriginal title imaginable, but it's relevant to the story. It was suggested to me by a dear friend who has read only part of this.

This is not my first fanfic; not by long shot (also anything else I have written is not likely to be updated any time soon. I was stupid and wrote those without an outline). It is, however, my first posted Brittana fic. If this is crap, tell me. Seriously. I don't want to waste peoples' time with crap writing. I don't have a beta, so odds are there's a billion tiny typos. I'm only one person, I'm doing the best I can.

I am not a Klainer. Which means nothing because there is a ton of them in this fic. They are, frankly, crucial to my plot. Don't like 'em? Flee now.

THERE MAY BE SPOILERS. This fic is written basically to spit in the face of season 4. Or, hey. Maybe season 4 will spit in the face of this fic. I hope it succeeds; I doubt it will.

Lastly: I don't presume to be a great writer. I don't presume to have any clue what I'm doing. What I DO know is that I always put things back when I borrow them, and these characters are not mine. Except, you know, the few who are.

**Fix You**

Brittany sat on her bed, knees drawn to her chest, deep in thought. Santana had, after a summer-long battle with her mother ("You said that money was for me for college, then you said it was for me in New York, so no you can't have it back!"), headed off to Louisville to major in cheerleading.

The Latina had been gone 13 days, now. And 7 hours. Brittany would have it down to the minute, but she'd been so weepy eyed when her girlfriend left that she hadn't been able to read the numbers on her phone to get the exact time. In the end, all that mattered was Santana was gone and Brittany was in her own until school started in another week.

Her mother had tried helping improve Brittany's mood by reminding her of all the ways the girls could keep in touch, and how Louisville really wasn't so far away. Maribel Lopez had even stopped by one afternoon after hearing that Santana was worried about Brittany. Maribel insisted to Brittany that Santana was experiencing the same emotions that she was, but Brittany didn't believe that - Santana was strong; far stronger than she was, emotionally speaking. Or so she appeared to be. And Brittany wanted to be like that too. She needed to be strong like Santana FOR Santana.

The fact was, Brittany S. Pierce was terrified that her girlfriend would go away to college, assimilate herself, and forget entirely about comparatively tiny Lima, Ohio. And with that, she would entirely forget her love for Brittany. Maybe she would even move onto some other, more mature, smart, capable, educated cheerleader. Brittany didn't know what she would do when that time came.

Did she regret not showing up to her classes? Of course she did. Was she disappointed that it resulted in repeating her senior year? Absolutely. But she didn't want Santana to see her look weak. She was determined to take her punishment and succeed where she had previously failed, and to prove that she wasn't stupid.

Deep in her heart, she wanted to believe that she and Santana were a quirky version of Finn and Rachel - they were obviously the gleek couple of the century, never to be split up, through thick and thin... though, for some reason the blonde didn't understand, they would be forever disagreeing with each other.

She and Santana rarely disagreed to the extent where they wouldn't speak. So really, Brittany figured they were actually a step ahead of so-called Finchel.

Why had she deviated so far from her original train of thought?

Brittany thought for a moment of the other couples in glee club. Mercedes had left for LA, and Sam was still here in Lima. She didn't know the status of their relationship at this point, but it didn't matter. They weren't childhood friends. Sam wouldn't understand Brittany's loneliness.

Mike and Tina had broken up. This Brittany knew for certain because Mike had texted her a few days previous, asking her to please look out for Tina during glee.

She was most envious of Kurt and Blaine. Having failed to get into NYADA, Kurt was still in town, within arms distance of Blaine all summer.

It wasn't that she harbored any ill will towards anyone. She just had so much sadness inside her and no idea how to make it go away. She didn't want to be a burden on anyone, least of all Santana.

She was going to show everyone how wonderful and smart and patient she could be. She was going to rock all of her classes, and everyone was going to be proud of her. And at thanksgiving, Santana was going to come home to her and there would be sweet, sweet lady kisses and THEN-

"Britty, there's someone at the door looking for you!" came the shrill voice of Brittany's eight-year-old sister as the younger blonde barged into the room, completely destroying the elder blonde's plans for thanksgiving break with her girlfriend.

Her curiosity vaguely piqued, Brittany trudged to the front door, mustering her best traditionally blank look. Given her uncharacteristically gloomy mood, it wasn't hard.

"There is no kind way to state this; you look utterly horrific." At the Pierces' front door stood one utterly fabulous Kurt Hummel. He was dressed for a day on the town - in some fancy place like New York, thought Brittany. Or Philadelphia or some other place with a long fancy name.

"Um..." what was she supposed to say to that? Usually she'd just say thank you and let that be the end of it. But she didn't look SO bad. Okay, her hair hadn't been brushed in three days, but it was summer. Her clothes almost matched, and most of her makeup had worn off too. It wasn't like she hadn't brushed her teeth every day, or not changed her underwear. No need to change it when you forget to wear it in the first place, she figured. So she was fine.

Kurt sighed in that dramatic way unique to himself and Rachel, and Brittany suspected he wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose. But he didn't.

"A little birdy told me that you were grieving Santana's departure. Had I known it had gotten this bad, I would have come sooner!" he declared, gently pushing Brittany back into the house and following her in. As soon as the door closed, he dropped the dramatic flair. Brittany just stared at him, confused by his presence.

"Seriously, Britt. I heard it from Finn. At boot camp. Somewhere far, far away. He heard from Puck, who by the way? Is in Los Angeles. And HE heard from a supposedly sobbing Santana. and while I don't expect for a moment that that girl is capable of genuine sorrow, I do believe she was worried about you. I was going to take you shopping - its never too late or too soon to update one's wardrobe — but clearly we have work to do here first."

Kurt looked around the entryway in search of a bathroom. Giving up, he turned again to Brittany. It was kind of unnerving how quiet she was; it reminded him of that brief period the previous school year when she'd apparently taken some sort of vow of silence.

"You go take a shower. Point me in the direction of your room. I'll find you something suitable, and when you're out of the shower I'll fix your hair. Then, we shop."

"Can there be ice cream?" Brittany asked, slightly giddy. Ordinarily this would irritate Kurt, but A: the girl had finally spoken, and B: the question was pure Brittany. He gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Yes, there can be ice cream. But not until our other mission is completed. Now; shower!" with the promise of ice cream, Brittany dashed out down a hallway. Damn, that girl was fast. But wait.

"Brittany!" he called after her. She poked her head out a door moments later, confused.

"Your room. The place where you sleep with the clothes in it?" he asked impatiently.

"Oh yeah. Upstairs, on the left. I think it's the left, it might be the right. Santana usually explains it to me with L's, but that makes me more confused. Just look for the door with the little unicorn on it. That one's mine."

Those directions were easy enough. When he reached the top of the stairs, he noticed the kid who had answered the door staring at him from what was presumably her own room. He gave her a small wave, while looking around for the room with the unicorn.

"Britty's is the one at the end of the hall, that way." The girl pointed to Kurt's right. She didn't stop looking at him though.

"why thank you..." Kurt trailed off. Why was this kid looking at him like that? His outfit was classy, sure, but simple by his standards.

"Are you Britty's friend?" she piped up suddenly. Kurt nodded.

"I'd like to say that we are friends, yes. Not as close as she is with some of her other friends, but we have things in common..." he trailed off. The girl shook her head.

"She doesn't have many friends. Just Santana and Quinn, really. Once she bought home a boy in a wheelchair. I didn't like how he talked to me. And the funny brown haired girl who used a lot of words I didn't know. She came over a few times."

Kurt was mildly shocked. First, Artie could be a little condescending, but he was a good guy. But really, Brittany had brought Rachel over? And more than once? Amazing.

"What do you think of Santana?" he asked her, with a morbid curiosity. He'd seen how the name-calling cheerleader treated her peers, and been the subject of much of her taunting over the years. How bad was she with kids?

"I miss her..." the young girl said with a sad frown. "she used to come over on Thursday nights cause mom and dad work late and she made pizza and played games with me. And Britty, of course. Mom says Tana isn't gone forever, though, and that I have to show Britty how to be a big girl. Sometimes she forgets. Mom says that if Britty and Tana have their way, Tana will be my real sister one day. But not Britty's." the little girl smiled at Kurt. "what's your name?" she asked, out of the blue.

"Oh, how rude of me. I'm Kurt. I went to school with Brittany and Santana last year, and was in glee club with them. Also, actually, with Artie the wheelchair boy and Rachel the loud teenaged toddler."

"I'm Emily." The girl said seriously, offering her right hand for a shake. "I'm eight years old, I play soccer, and I'm way better at Pictionary than Britty."

Shaking hands with Emily, Kurt gestured down the hall. "it's been a pleasure meeting you, Emily, and I do hope to speak with you further. However, I have an outfit to pick out for your sister, and I'm afraid of what I'll find."

"Okay! Bye Kurt! You should so come by on Thursday night and play with us!"

As Kurt wandered down the hallway to the room with — yup, there was the unicorn, he thought to himself just how much like Brittany Emily was. Wiser, maybe, but clearly they were sisters.

Opening the door to Brittany's room, his first thought was that her room was not what he expected. He knew from Fondue for Two that the room was blue and flowery, but he was surprised at how clean it was. Nothing on the floor, the closet was organized... Despite how she looked today, this was definitely something he could work with. Now, to see what clothes were living in her closet...

By the time Brittany had showered and gotten all of the dozens of knots out of her hair, Kurt had picked what he deemed to be the best outfit he could throw together. Brittany's individual clothing items were colorful and fun. Also, on occasion, fuzzy. But so far as entire outfits went, there was definitely something to be desired. Kurt chalked the majority of this up to the fact that Brittany generally wore her Cheerios outfit to school.

When she entered her room, Kurt handed her a folded pile of clothing and told her to change. She had been gone for a while and Kurt was itching to get out and shop.

Brittany returned moments later in a light green and white striped shirt under a sheer royal purple off-the-shoulder top, with a pair of nondescript jeans and a purple oversized beret on her head. Kurt had not chosen headwear for her, but if she was going to leave her hair down, they could leave now. Pointedly ignoring her hat, he practically dragged her out of the house and to his car.

After a surprisingly uneventful ride to the mall, they wove through various clothing stores. Kurt noticed that with every new distraction, Brittany was quickly becoming the girl he was used to. And he realized that her taste in clothing was worse than he thought.

A good two hours into their excursion, they had accumulated a handful of bags each and wandered in the general direction of the food court. Stopping for food (here Kurt had to re-promise ice cream to Brittany), they found an open table where they were greeted by Blaine.

"Hey guys, fancy meeting you here." he sat down opposite Kurt, next to Brittany's collection of bags.

"Hi Blaine," Brittany offered monotonously. Blaine gave Kurt a perplexed look. The latter was temporary saved from explanation as Brittany's phone went off.

"Really, Brittany? Ke$ha? Really?" Kurt needed to find her some better music.

Both boys were shocked to see how quickly she scrambled to find it and answer it. They pretended to look over Kurt's purchases as they eavesdropped on Brittany.

"Hi! ...oh, yeah sorry. We're at the mall so it's like, really loud... Me and Kurt. Oh, and Blaine. We were buying clothes, but now we're eating. Kurt said I can have ice cream!... I know... I know, and I really wish you were here. But I'm super happy that you're happy and that everything is good so far..."

Blaine and Kurt knew who she was talking to from the get go, but if they hadn't, the frown that had etched itself on her face would have given it away. She looked sad again, as if all that retail therapy hadn't helped at all. Damn that Santana Lopez and her control of Brittany's precious little heart, Kurt thought.

"...no, I'm really happy you went. And you'll come back, right? For thanksgiving?" suddenly the blonde perked up. "Really?! Why didn't I think of that?...Totally! Em will really like it too..."

The boys, satisfied with whatever Santana was telling her, finally turned to mind their own business as the phone call continued. A few minutes later when they heard "all right... Totally. I love you too," they once again turned to her. Hanging up the phone, Brittany regarded Kurt.

"thank you, my precious unicorn, for making things better today. Today is like, the best day without Santana." neither Kurt nor Blaine had the heart to point out that she had thanked them pretty much because she had spoken to Santana, but at least she was happy. And now she was hugging them.

Having just eaten lunch, neither Kurt nor Brittany were hungry enough for ice cream. So he offered Brittany and Blaine the opportunity to visit the Hudson-Hummel house for movies and, if they got hungry, ice cream from the fridge. After assuring Brittany that they would have whipped cream and cherries, the trio headed to Kurt's.

His house had gotten lonely, lately. With Finn off at boot camp and Burt in Washington during the week, it was really just Carole and Kurt. While Kurt had grown to really appreciate her, he preferred a larger group in the house.

Carole had apparently gone shopping for groceries while he was gone, if the note she left on the counter was accurate. He didn't see why she bothered; it was really just the two of them. They could make do with whatever was in the fridge. Steering his friends into the family room, he flipped on the lights and looked around.

"So, movie time. I could list a thousand films worth watching, but what kind of host would that make me?" he offered as he gestured for Brittany and Blaine to take their pick of seats. Blaine opted for one end of the sofa and Brittany dropped onto the floor.

"Britt, you don't have to sit on the floor. If you don't like the sofa, there are two other, very comfortable I might add, recliners. The floor is not your friend."

The blonde gave him a weird look. "Have you ever even seen a movie before? The floor is the best spot! Also, can we have ice cream?"

"Brittany? Focus. Let's pick a movie, and then I will bring in the ice cream."

She thought for a moment, and then responded. "Do you have Lady and the Tramp? That one's my favorite." at that moment, Kurt was resisting the urge to slap a had to his forehead. Blaine, however, thought it was a fine idea.

"I agree with Brittany, really. It's a great way to start our afternoon movies. And it goes really well with ice cream."

Sighing, Kurt actually pulled the movie in question out from the very back of the bottom shelf holding the family's movie collection.

"Please, do not ask why I own this. As a matter of fact, Brittany, you can take it home. You start this, and Blaine and I will get us the ice cream."

With that, he dragged Blaine out to the kitchen.

"Remind me again why we're watching this ridiculous children's movie?" he asked, pulling out a mostly-full gallon of chocolate ice cream. "I hope she likes chocolate, cause that's all we have."

"We are watching that movie because you are doing an amazing job of cheering her up. From what you said she looked like this morning... And it's just one movie. She'll at least let us take turns picking out what we watch. Oh - didn't she want whipped cream and a cherry on hers?"

"No, this one is yours. Hers is over here."

Blaine looked at Kurt, and the ice cream, and moved in to kiss his boyfriend. Gently taking the ice cream, he pulled back and looked Kurt in the eyes.

"What you're doing for her? It's just amazing. Sure, it doesn't seem like much or mean much to you, but it means a lot to Brittany. And in its own way, that means even more to me."

"You do realize that now that you've said that, I'm going to have to find a way to keep Brittany completely occupied for the rest of the week, right?"

Kissing Kurt once more and grabbing Brittany's ice cream (now with whipped cream and a cherry), he walked out of the room, saying "I'm counting on that."

When Kurt had put everything away in the kitchen, he headed back into the living room. What he found in there was that Blaine had forsaken the sofa in favor of sitting on the floor with Brittany. She had her head on his shoulder, and they had the movie started.

Brittany gave Kurt an encouraging smile, and he caved and sat on the floor on her other side. She looked up at the tv, then to Blaine and Kurt respectively.

"This is Santana's favorite Disney movie." she explained. But she wasn't sad, really. Because she was sharing something that she loved, and that Santana loved (or perhaps really only tolerated, who knew?), with two boys that she also loved.

They watched other movies, too. Blaine wanted RENT, and Kurt wanted The Artist. By the time she left, the sun was long gone and she had little drips of chocolate ice cream on her shirt from when she tried to eat while laughing.

And Kurt and Blaine had told her they'd be by her place the next afternoon, no arguments, no exceptions.

So that's that. Questions, Comments, Suggestions - you know where they go. And hey - since you made it this far, thanks for giving this a shot!


	2. Chapter 2

Okay. Against my better judgement, here's chapter two. I also want to thank my two reiewers for their input.

**Tygerlily44 **- I do hope to do a Santana POV sometime soon. I just want to get Brittany back to school and get all that squared away.

This and probably half of chapter three were written before the season 4 opener, so they're likely to clash with whatever is canon. Hence this being labeled absolutely AU. That said, I may try to incorporate aspects of season 4 in here. Marley and Kitty may make appearances, anything pertaining to Brittana has a chance of showing up in here. I don't even know yet.

Fix You, Chapter 2

The next morning saw Kurt and Blaine at Brittany's kitchen table. The blonde in question was still asleep at, here Kurt checked his watch again, 9:48 AM. They'd arrived only minutes earlier and, upon hearing that she was still asleep, had been prepared to return at a later time. Mrs Pierce, however, would have none of that. Inviting them in, she asked if they'd eaten. She either didn't hear Kurt explain that they'd had crepes earlier, or she didn't care. She ushered them into the kitchen and sat them down with the rest of her family, and then presented everyone with the stack of pancakes she had apparently been making.

"Kurt!" Emily squealed from across the table. She didn't move from her spot, but she was excited to see

. Emily knew as a fact that Brittany only brought the coolest people home with her, because Brittany was kinda special. Not in that mean way that she'd heard her friends use, but in a good way. Brittany saw the best in people, and didn't judge by popularity. Santana did that. Either way, she was quite pleased to see Kurt.

"good morning, Emily. Good morning, Mr. Pierce..." Kurt trailed off. He didn't know Brittany's parents, but if they had such nice daughters and since Mrs Pierce was feeding them, they couldn't be terrible. Right?

"Mrs Pierce, these pancakes are wonderful," Blaine complimented as he helped himself to a couple. Kurt did the same; it would have been rude not to.

"Thank you, boys. It was my mother's recipe. She used to get them off the radio. To this day I have never found any of these specific recipes of hers in any book…" after a few moments of enjoyable silence, she spoke again.

"I don't recall seeing either of you here before. Judging by the shopping bags and mood Brittany came home in last night, I understand that you are friends?" She was not an intimidating woman. In fact, Brittany definitely inherited her height from her father and the majority of her looks from her mother. Mrs Pierce was fairly short - taller than Rachel, definitely, but shorter than, say, Quinn. She was surprisingly slender, and had warm blue eyes - which had definitely been passed to the cheerleader. She was just protective of Brittany. The girl had a habit of speaking before thinking, and needed people to occasionally look out for her. Plus, that was her job as a mother.

"Absolutely, we're her friends." Blaine piped up in a pleasant tone. "We were all in glee club together. I still am, actually. I'll be a senior this year. Actually, that was something I wanted to talk to you about." He did not miss the perplexed look on Kurt's face, nor the inquisitive ones on the Pierce parents. The thus-far silent Mr Pierce gently put down his newspaper to pay attention to the young man.

"I know Brittany's used to having Santana at her beck and call during school. I was thinking that maybe, since Brittany and I will be wandering the halls of McKinley together, perhaps I might fill that void. You know, see to it that Brittany gets to and from class, understands the homework, basic things like that. "

Mr Pierce cleared his throat.

"It's clear that you're an educated individual, so far as high school goes. The question here is that what is the benefit for you? It's wonderful that you want to help my daughter, but what is the cost?" his tone was not unkind, but it was stern. Blaine looked uncomfortable for just a moment before he answered.

"Well sir, honestly…She's the only school friend I have who's also facing a serious long-distance relationship. She's so bright and cheerful that if we can work together, getting past the initial loneliness should be easier. And honestly, I might really need her help."

Kurt came to a conclusion: Blaine had lost his mind. Did he not see Kurt sitting here next to him? Sure, he was headed to New York at some point, but... Oh. Blaine wanted the bases covered just in case it happened during the school year. Now he understood.

"Why would you be lonely, dear? Surely you have friends at school - at least in that glee club you all love so much? You wouldn't have stayed in it if you didn't all get along..." Mrs Pierce questioned.

Blaine signed. "I do. I- we, really, have many wonderful friends. Especially in the glee club. But you see, last year I transferred from another school into McKinley, so I could be with my-"

"to be with Kurt! I knew it! I knew when you came in earlier that you were unicorns, just like Britty and Tana!" Emily shouted, elated that she had new friends who were 'like Brittany and Santana.'

A sleepy Brittany appeared in the doorway, rubbing one eye as she yawned. Kurt looked at her and honestly had to wonder: what was it with people today and their onesies? He loved Brittany, and he loved Mercedes, but this was a fad he did not understand.

"Why's there unicorns here so early?" she mumbled, staggering in.

"Hey, Britt-Britt. Blaine and I were just talking about you." Kurt waved as she plopped down in the nearest chair, staring blankly at them all.

"Brittany," Blaine began gently, "I was thinking that maybe you and I could team up at school this year. You know, help each other out?"

She smiled, waking up a bit. "That's really sweet, but I'm dating Santana. Plus, you're totally gay. But that's okay, I still love you."

"No, that-that's not how I meant it. I just meant that since Santana's gone and Kurt won't actually be there, that we could look out for each other. I know Santana will want someone to be there to help you, and Kurt might not be staying in Ohio either. So, I'm going to need you too."

Brittany mulled this over, waking up a bit more in the process, and remembered the promise she made to Santana and Maribel about going to her classes before not graduating.

"So... We'd be, like...dating. But without the dating part?"

"Precisely!" Blaine responded with a blinding smile. Kurt and Emily both shot him looks conveying the fact that they thought he was insane, but the adults both smiled broadly.

"Well... Okay. But if anyone tries to hit on you, I'm telling them you're taken. Just out of fairness to Kurt."

Kurt nodded appreciatively at this as Brittany loaded up her plate with pancakes and began wolfing them down.

"So what's on today's agenda?" Mrs Pierce asked the table.

"Well, with the weather being less than favorable, we were thinking maybe the movies. But for some reason, this year's summer film options are just terrible," Kurt sighed. "plus, we spent yesterday afternoon watching movies. So we made a little arrangement for Brittany." He said with a gleam in his eye. "You still have you laptop, right Britt?"

"Yeah, of course. That's how I text Santana when my phone dies." She stated - like Kurt should have known better.

"Okay. Good. I need you to show it to me. Blaine, go ahead and fill everyone else in on our little gift."

As Kurt and Brittany headed upstairs, Blaine turned back to the rest of the Pierces. "Really, it isn't that big of a thing that he's doing. He's just setting up Skype for her. We talked to Santana last night, and she thinks a video chat would really help them both."

Emily scooted her chair off, eager to see Santana too, but before she could take off, her father put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"You can chat with the big girls, but not until Brittany calls you to. She knows how much you love spending time with them, and you know she never leaves you out. Until she calls you up, you're staying right here with us."

Emily pouted, but made no effort to run off.

"Santana just offered to help you out? I mean, I know its for Brittany, but..." Mrs Pierce questioned, suddenly suspicious. "That doesn't sound like the Santana that I know."

Blaine hung his head a bit. "we may have had to make a few promises before she would even hear us out. And Kurt may have, you know, resorted to some innocent blackmail to get her to wake up early on one of her free mornings. But... What really mattered is that she's cooperating."

"it's not early! It's ten thirty in the morning!" Emily exclaimed. Who would sleep so late when there was life to live? Food to be eaten? Cartoons to be watched!

"well, no, it isn't late for us. But we both know that Santana loves her sleep. And you'll understand when you're away at college, honey. Sleep is something college students don't get enough of." Mrs Pierce explained. Emily just nodded. She was glad Brittany and Santana were older than her; she didn't want to go to school far away and not have the energy to play with her friends.

"well. On that note, if I'm going to be in the office at all today, I should leave now." Mr Pierce announced. Emily hopped off his lap, taking his newspaper with her. She was so going to use it to make pirate hats for everyone.

Blaine felt uncomfortable enduring this average family routine on his own. He family hadn't operated this way, and he didn't have Kurt or even Brittany to make it seem slightly less domestic.

"if you don't mind, I'm just going to see how they're coming along." He said, getting up and pushing in his chair. "thank you for the breakfast, Mrs Pierce. If there's somewhere I can put this plate to make it easier for you..." ever the gentleman, Blaine collected Brittany and Kurt's plates as well.

"Thank you, Blaine. But you can leave them right there and I'll grab them when I get to it. Go see how they're doing." She returned with a smile. Blaine then turned to Emily, who had relocated to the far corner of the room in what appeared to be a designated arts and crafts area.

"As soon as Brittany wants you up there, I'll come get you. Okay? That way you won't miss out."

Emily smiled, but didn't look up from decimating the newspaper. "thanks!" His hat would be fire engine red, she decided, to match his pants.

Blaine headed up the stairs, relying on the sound of voices to point him in the right direction.

The house wasn't particularly large, so he found his way quickly. Brittany's loud "come on, come on, come on!" didn't hurt either. Having not seen the blonde's web show, he wasn't expecting her room to look as classy as it did. He'd pictured neon and chaos. This was cozy.

"So... What are we up to?" he asked casually, not sure how much Brittany knew at this point.

"Blaine! I was afraid Lord Tubbington was holding you captive. But when I found him under the bed a few minutes ago and you weren't there, I knew you were safe." she spoke to him, but kept her eyes on the laptop screen. Or where the screen would be, we're Kurt's head not in the way.

"We're almost where we need to be... And then, Brittany, you can have your present."

Brittany turned to Blaine. "at first when Kurt told me I was getting a present, I figured you two were going to sing to me. But then he reminded me that my present was inside the laptop, so now I'm hoping for a unicorn. Or, like, a jackalope. Either or." She bounced a little in her seat, smiling.

Blaine thought for a moment about the unicorn comment. "Well, Actually-"

"Egads! What is that?!" Kurt cried, jumping. Blaine and Brittany looked at the computer screen.

"Shut it, lady lips. You wanna wake me up when I could be enjoying some much needed sleep, this is what you get. Take it or leave it, and bring me my Britts," Santana snapped over the video feed. It wasn't her fault she wasn't awake enough to put her contacts in. It wasn't like Brittany hadn't seen her in her glasses before, or before she had styled her hair.

"Santana!" Brittany pushed Kurt out from in front of the computer so she could take his place in front of the webcam. "Hi." She said sweetly.

"Hey, you." Santana cooed at her. "I miss you." She thought about all the small talk she could make with Brittany - how there was no one to skip class with, how the teachers and coaches there would love Sue Sylvester…. But none of that really mattered. And right now it felt fake. Brittany would know instantly that she was saying it all for the sake of saying it.

"I miss you too. And your glasses. I really miss those too." Brittany said with a smile. She studied her girlfriend's face a moment before looking to see what was behind her. Get a glimpse of Santana's dorm room, maybe.

"You don't miss the actual glasses, you miss stealing them from me and running around the house with them. And what brings that up? You haven't stolen my glasses since we were ten."

Brittany focused on Santana's face again and sighed. "I dunno. I was thinking the other night. About all those crazy things we used to do we were kids. Like that one time we got in so much trouble, cause we snuck into your next door neighbor's yard and-"

"- And picked all of the tomatoes! No... No, we only picked the green ones. Because we figured he wouldn't need them anytime soon, being green and all-"

Kurt and Blaine, at this point, were peering over Brittany's shoulder, watching both girls reminisce. Kurt was kind of shocked to see that Santana had had a relatively painless, harmless fun experience...

"And we hid in the bushes and threw them all at your brother! That was so the best trouble we ever got in!" Brittany finished giddily. Kurt closed his eyes. Did Santana ever NOT get into trouble?

"What's this 'we' business, Britt-Britt? The only one who got in trouble was me. You just weren't allowed to come out and play for a week. I had to replant Mr Brody's tomato garden." The boys had never seen such a wide, honest smile on the girl. Her smile quickly faded, though.

"Brittany? What's that look for? Tell me what's going on." Brittany gave a little sniff. She wasn't crying, but something wasn't right.

"I just... I dunno, its stupid."

"What have I told you about that word? You know it doesn't apply to you. Nothing you say or think is stupid. If you can't tell me, tell Prancy or Hobbit-man behind you. If its bothering you, someone needs to know."

"I just want those days back. I want to go throw tomatoes, and drop your glasses in the pool when you think I hid them in the front yard. I want to go climb that tree in your backyard and watch your mom start yelling at us as we wave to her through the second floor window. Except this time how about we don't fall out halfway down? It hurt. But... You know what I mean?"

"I know, Britt. And I kind of want those days back too. Everything was so much easier." Santana gave her a sad smile and tried not to sigh. She'd known this talk was coming, she just hadn't expected it until somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas. She'd only been gone two weeks!

"I want you back here," Brittany whined. It wasn't a big dramatic whine like they'd have heard from Rachel. It was sad and quiet.

"I know, Britt. But my classes have only just started, and I'm still getting lost trying to get around campus. Don't you boys go telling anyone that. But I promise you, with Lady Hummel and Bow Tie Boy as my witnesses," she stated as Brittany giggled and Kurt rolled his eyes, "that as soon as I get everything squared away here, I will come back to see you. You're the reason I got here, Brittany. I'm not going to forget you."

"I really hope you don't..." Brittany whispered, bringing her hand up to tough the screen.

"Okay, what are you doing? And what are you talking about? Kurt, Blaine," the boys looked up in shock at her usage of their names. " Go take a walk. Then find Britt's little sister Emily, and very slowly bring her up so I can talk to her.

In any other situation, Santana would have cackled at the speed at which her former glee mates left the room. But this was important.

"Brittany. What are you doing?" it was more of a statement than a question, and it was slow, drawn out... Patient."

"I'm touching you face," Brittany replied meekly.

"Britt, you know that's a computer screen, not my actual face. Please, stop and tell me what's really bothering you. You aren't acting like yourself, and it's freaking me out."

"do you remember junior year, when you told Jacob Ben Israel that you and Karofsky were soulmates?" Brittany started.

Santana was puzzled. "um, yeah. You know, there's a funny thing about that-"

"please let me finish." Santana shut up and sat back, focusing on her love.

"would it be silly... I know you aren't soulmates with Karofsky cause you're both gay, and I know that I like guys and I like girls, but... Do you think you and I could be soulmates?"

The Latina bit back the urge to explain to Brittany that her comment that day was aimed at her, and not at Karofsky. But there was no point to that, so she continued. "Absolutely, I think so. Would it.. Be bad if we were?"

"of course not! I'm just... Promise you won't get mad at me, or laugh at me, or.."

"I promise, Britt. Get it out, whatever it is, before it drives you crazy. You know I love you, Brittany. But I can't help you until I know what to fix." Santana was starting to worry.

Was Brittany falling for someone? Was it guilt that was eating her? Did Brittany we t to break up and go back to being the best friends they had been as children? A dozen depressing thoughts flashed through Santana's mind simultaneously. She pushed them aside - she needed to be there for Brittany, and she would be. Whatever the girl needed.

"What if you fall in love with another girl at school?" Brittany asked suddenly. Even though it came out as a single word, it was spoken so fast, Santana heard it perfectly clear.

"You're afraid I'm going to leave you for another girl?" she had to clarify. Not because she'd misheard, but because she was stunned.

"Yeah. I know its stupid, but I saw in this movie once that people who go away to college are, like, more likely to marry people they meet there, not the people they meet in high school... And you're smokin' hot, so you could have anyone you wanted."

"Well, its good to know I still have my amazing looks after two weeks, and I know I can have whoever I want. Cause the only person I want is you. And yeah, I want us to be forever. Can I guarantee that I won't ever have a crush on someone here? I really can't. But then, what if you fall in love with some guy or some girl in Lima? I can't keep you from that, Britt. No matter how much I want to."

Both girls were frowning now. Brittany's eyes watered, just a little.

"Does this mean we have to break up? She asked in a shaky voice. She shouldn't have mentioned this. Everything would have been find and a breakup wouldn't even be on Santana's mind right now.

"Britt, this is insane. Take a deep breath, and listen to me. And, god. Please be honest. Okay?"

At Brittany's nod, Santana continued. "You made a seriously valid point. Most high school couples do break up. And the long-distance thing, cliche as it is, can be a killer too. This whole year is going to be an uphill battle for us. So… if you want out, I understand. Its okay if you do, really." It really wasn't, but sometimes little lies we necessary.

"No." Brittany shook her head emphatically. But still, she needed to know one thing. "Do you have a lady-crush?"

"Britt, I don't even know my roommate's hair color. I'm not looking for love, I don't want to replace you, but we're getting way ahead of ourselves. Stop focusing on the future and the past at the same time. Focus on now. Can you do that?"

"I think I can do that..." Brittany wiped at her eye, calming herself down. Things were okay. They were okay. They were together. "But you still promise to visit us?"

"Santanaaaaaaaaa!" Emily screeched and she threw the door open and ran into the room. Blaine and Kurt were just behind her.

"Sorry, we couldn't hold her back anymore." Blaine apologized. Brittany smiled, and Santana turned her attention to the eight year old.

"Hey, squirt. Miss me?"

"You bet! I don't have anyone to blame things on anymore! Now my mom knows I was the one making crazy recipes in the bathroom sink." She grumbled.

"Em, she always knew. She just likes to yell at me. Hey, I forget. What grade you in now?"

"Third! I got Ms Hogan this year. She's way better than Mr Delgado." Emily said proudly. Santana didn't recognize either of the names, but smiled at her girlfriend's sister all the same. She just had nothing to say to that.

The group spent the next half hour chatting about various things: who had which teachers, what kind of classes Santana had, what Louisville was like in general. After that though, Santana announced the she had class.

"This was so fun. Can we do it again?" Brittany asked her.

"Yeah, totally. Hummel and the Warbler can even come back, if you want."

"You know, Santana," said Kurt. "our parents did give us names."

"Funny! So did I. Many, in fact. You should be honored." she flashed a devilish smile at them.

Emily frowned and pushed her way in front of Brittany. "Tana, don't be mean to Kurty and Blainey! They won't want to come back at all and it'll be all your fault!"

Kurt and Blaine looked mortified. Santana gave them some horrible names, but these were just terrible. Was she really Brittany's sister?

"Please don't ever call us that again." Kurt begged, still horrified at the latest name bestowed upon him.

As Emily opened her mouth to make a deal with him, Santana interrupted. "Don't negotiate! We can use that later!" the small blonde ignored her and regarded the boys.

"No promises." she smirked, and Kurt was nearly positive that she was somehow a relative of Santana.

"All right, y'all. I'm out. Britt, we good?"

"We good," she replied, saluting.

"Good. But I'm serious. If you have a problem, tell me. Or tell your sister, your friends, your parents — whoever you need to."

"I know."

After a sarcastic exchange with Kurt and a quick goodbye to Emily, Santana reiterated her promise to Skype with Brittany when she had time. And with that, she was off.

The room was silent for a moment before Kurt spoke. "It takes forever to get her off the phone, doesn't it?"

"yeah, pretty much." Brittany responded. "That was way better than a unicorn, by the way. Thank you, Kurt." Shee turned and wrapped her arms around him. "you're such my favorite unicorn ever."

"Well, what about Santana? She's a unicorn too. Isn't she?" Blaine asked her.

"Santana's not a unicorn cause she doesn't poop rainbows and glitter. Right Britty?" Emily piped up happily.

"Emily, dont you have a playdate this afternoon? And Santana is a special unicorn. Like, the kind that can't lose her horn. Cause she's that special." Brittany corrected. The younger blonde bounced out the door and down the hall, calling "Bye, Kurty! Bye Blainey!"

"Britt, seriously. Please make her stop. Those are the worst names ever. They don't even sound right!" Kurt complained. But Brittany had tuned him out.

She suddenly had no idea what to do. Not about Santana; that was pretty much sorted out. But it was barely noon, she was emotionally exhausted, and Kurt and Blaine were still there. There was no way they'd go for another movie marathon, and she really didn't want to watch tv anyway.

"I'm bored." She groaned, flopping face-down on her bed.

"There's tons of things to do." Blaine suggested. Unable to come up with something off the top of his head, he nudged Kurt.

"Of course! Blaine and I really enjoy shopping for new sheet music. Or taking leisurely strolls in the park?" Brittany frowned at him.

"That's couple-y stuff. " Rolling over so she was on her back, she continued. "If you wanna go be couple-y away from me, I won't be upset. Actually, I'll probably go to sleep."

"Britt, you know you're welcome to come with us. We wouldn't have suggested it otherwise," Kurt offered, but Brittany waved him off.

"It's okay. I'm not sad. It was just a busy morning, and I just need a nap."

The boys hesitantly left, checking in with Mrs Pierce in the living room before they left - just to let her know they weren't abandoning her daughter.

Brittany slept through dinner.

I've written and re-written most of this, and it wasn't getting any better than what's posted. I know the characters are all off-centered, relative to their personalities. I'm doing what I can with the little that I have.

On a brighter note, I would like to let you know that Little Brittana's adventures - specifically the tomatoes, the dropping of items into the pool, and the tree climbing - are not made up events. They occurred between two young Very Best Friends in the mid to late 90s. Both girls still agree that the tomato incident was the best trouble they ever got into. My little brother did not enjoy it. But I figured a young Santana might enjoy pelting an annoying younger brother with stolen food items.

Please do review. I don't know how to fix things otherwise. And hey, I'm always open to ideas. Want to see something in here? Leave a comment!


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